©InfoNunu Gabiani, 57, has not left her house for two years, since her health began to deteriorate. “Although I have been handicapped from birth, I used to work in a silk factory and I was a part of society,” Nunu says. “It helped me forget my condition. But when the factory closed, I was left unemployed. Life was very hard for me and I became completely isolated.”
For Nunu, the Georgia Red Cross programme for socially excluded older people is a lifeline. Because many active older people who attend the Red Cross social centre have become volunteers and visit people, like Nunu, in their homes.
Being a friend
“Now I am homebound I can’t even go out to buy newspapers. But when Red Cross volunteer Malvina Kakabadze visits me, I no longer feel isolated,” Nunu explains. “She updates me on all the current news and spends hours sitting and talking to me.
“Although I have a small gas cooker I avoid using it as I have no money to charge it. I often use an open fire to cook my meals, but I can’t afford meat. Mostly I eat rice and noodles.
“When Malvina visits, she always brings me something to eat, either fruit or cake. She also helps me with my gardening. No one else comes to see me, only the Red Cross volunteers. I am so happy when I see Malvina. When she opens my door, I am filled with new hope.”
Information and advocacy
Through the social centres, the Red Cross helps provide friendship and creativity, as well as social and economic well-being for older people who were previously treated as if they were on society’s scrap heap. Also, by providing information for older people on their rights to benefits and services, they have started addressing issues for themselves.
Nunu says: “I had rented an apartment for a long time, where I lived alone. It was very hard for me to make ends meet and I told Malvina. Then volunteers from the Red Cross approached the Mayor’s Office about my problem. With their assistance I was given this apartment.
“I am very grateful for this Red Cross club for elderly people, which sends volunteers to visit the homebound. I don’t know what I would do without their help.”
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